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Anti-gun activists stage rally near City Hall

May 27, 2009

About a hundred people rallied in the rain in support of 12 activists on trial yesterday for blocking the entrance to a gun store. They were arrested back in January. The protesters say the owner of the store refused to sign a pledge of ethical conduct for gun sales.

About a hundred people rallied in the rain in support of 12 activists on trial yesterday for blocking the entrance to a gun store. They were arrested back in January. The protesters say the owner of the store refused to sign a pledge of ethical conduct for gun sales. They want gun store owners to do things like videotape each sale, use a computerized system to trace gun crimes, and scrutinize I.D.’s.

Three hundred and fifty t-shirts draped around Dilworth Plaza today bore the names of the 2008 gun violence victims from Philadelphia, Chester and Camden.

But Sherry Ryan, from Mothers in Charge, says it will take more than t-shirts to stop the traffic in illegal guns.

Ryan: We’re tired of burying our children, we’re tired of having t-shirts, we’re tired of having these teddy bears up in the streets, we don’t need those things, we want our children.

Ryan herself lost her son to gun violence more than 15 years ago. Today, she rallied in support of twelve activists who are part of an interfaith group concerned about gun violence.

The group, called Heeding God’s Call, has continued to hold demonstrations outside the shop since the arrests in January.

Prosecutors argue that the defendants are guilty of obstruction and disorderly conduct regardless of their motivation. The protesters were acquitted on all charges late yesterday.